Every year, as thousands of humpbacks return to their breeding grounds near a protected bay, locals gather on the beach to greet them with stories, dancing and music.

Every July, tens of thousands of visitors descend on Colombia’s Pacific Coast, crowding the frenzied passenger docks in the seaport of Buenaventura as they wait for speedboats that will whisk them to the small communities lining remote Málaga Bay. They’ve come to see the humpback whales.

The whales, numbering in the thousands, are on their own mass mission: migrating from their feeding grounds near Chile to their breeding grounds near Colombia, where they remain until October.

Aboard a ferry from Buenaventura to the town of Juanchaco, from which you can walk or ride a motorcycle taxi to La Barra, the site of this year’s whale festival.Jaír Coll for The New York Times
The docks in Buenaventura can be crowded with tourists, mostly from Colombia, heading to whale-watching destinations starting in mid-July.Jaír Coll for The New York Times

During the whale-watching season, which begins in mid-July, boats with licensed captains and guides take the visitors — mostly Colombians but a growing number of foreigners — to see the creatures breach, blow and slap the water with their fins and tails.

On shore, visitors can also witness a lesser-known spectacle as residents of the area gather for an annual festival to celebrate the whales and revive a fading culture.


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Map locates Buenaventura, Colombia, along with Málaga Bay, La Barra, Juanchaco and Joonin Jeb.

San Juan River

colombia

Jooin Jeb

La Barra

Ladrilleros

Juanchaco

Málaga Bay

Buenaventura

Pacific Ocean

PANAMA

100 MILES

Medellín

colombia

Detail area

Bogotá

Cali

10 miles

By The New York Times

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